A handful of current and future fashion students at Central St Martins and London College of Fashion put on their own fashion spectacle off London's Brick Lane to showcase local design talent

Passion, energy and enthusiasm are surely just three of the qualities
the professors and tutors of London’s world-known fashion and design
institutions look for in a young designer. In that case, the
collaborative show that six designers, currently in or about to start
their first year at Central St Martin’s and London College of Fashion,
put together on Tuesday night gets A+! ‘Fashion For Show’ took place at
The Rag Factory just off London’s Brick Lane and showcased three looks
from each participating designer as well as what can be accomplished
when creative types chip in their skills and talent with three CSM set
designers, a couple of DJs, some stylists and a bunch of make-up, hair
and lighting students all doing their part. The four Swedish designers, Magdalena Gustafsson, Lisette Norrby, Sara Arnesen and Pauline Edwall - who knew each other from studying at the Cutters Academy in Gothenburg - joined forces with two more, French Andrea Mongenie and British/French Timothy Bouyes-Forge, and, in their own words, "tried to have fun". It’s enough
to make those final-year students shake in their Doc Martens. Dazed
Digital was there, observing all the backstage action and finding out
more about a few of the designers, their reasons for organising the show and why
a little bit of rebellion is a must for every design student in London.

Dazed Digital: What and where are you studying:Magdalena Gustafsson: I'm in my first year studying for a BA degree in Knitwear at CSM.DD: Could you tell us how the idea for this collaboration and show came about?Magdalena Gustafsson: We
wanted to collaborate with other people and get as many people involved
as possible. We wanted to have fun and make something outside of school
that’s just for us and for fun. At the beginning it was four of us
interested in doing the show, we met and talked about what we wanted to
do with the show and what we wanted to get out if it and that’s how we
ended up with six designers.

DD: Why knitwear?Magdalena Gustafsson: I
really like to work with the garment for a long time and create the
material as well. Designing for me comes a lot from the material so I
start with that and I work it out from there. In this collection, I
started to work and drape strings into different shapes to get the
silhouette and then decided to stay with natural materials.

DD:
The three looks you’re showing tonight have a lot of different layers
to them with crochet details on sleeves and knitted ‘necklaces’ on top,
what was your starting point for that? Magdalena Gustafsson: Actually,
I was looking at Annette Messager and her way of working with many
objects and putting them into one thing. That’s what I like, all the
knitting parts are going on but still connected to one thing. I was
also looking at parachutes and these straps that parachute jumpers have
on their legs for the pants I made, which then turned into pants with a
skirt at the same. I like all these straps that are connected and
pulled together.

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Dazed Digital: What and where do you study?Timothy Bouyes-Forge: First year of womenswear at LCF.

DD: Why did you take part in this project?Timothy Bouyes-Forge: I
think the idea came out of frustration, maybe this is just me, but it’s
a very competitive business and we’re all really eager to show our
things as soon as possible and to make our mark. As soon as I started
to do fashion and art I wanted to get stuck in and start to create
great things. So, it came out of that and a little bit of rebellion
even, doing something outside of school without the background of the
school trying to dictate what we do.

DD: What did you decide to show tonight?Timothy Bouyes-Forge: Right
now my collection is all-white with burnt details, like the distraction
of something pure. I like to see how the fabrics burn. There’s a loose
shirtdress that I used incense sticks to make all these little burns
that resemble a polka dot pattern and I like that it’s tangible but
really neutral and slick. It’s these contrasts that I really like. Some
of the clothes come from different projects that I’ve done at
University and I found a rhythm through it all. I really like this
white t-shirt I made, which is all neoprene, like surf-wear, and it’s
all padded and feels safe in some way and then contrasts with the
skirt, which is burnt and destroyed and crispy and the colours are
brown and yellow.

DD: From afar it almost looked like a print...Timothy Bouyes-Forge: Actually I thought of making it as a print but it loses its tangibility and what it was previously.

DD: How did you get into design?Timothy Bouyes-Forge: My
sister is a graphic designer and I think my parents directed me
subconsciously - I didn’t realise it when I was young - and I think I
responded well to art and design. It feels good to me to make these
things and to draw and to have that creative side. And the whole London
scene as well, it’s a little niche where everybody has the chance to
show what they make and that’s really rare. The thing about London is
that there’re a lot of eager young students and young people who really
want to make something, it’s like this colony of people!

DD: Are there any particular designers you admire?Timothy Bouyes-Forge: I’d
be lying if I said I didn’t look up to Comme des Garcons and Margiela
but I really like Nineties fashion right now and the Eighties and
Thirties as well. Photography and time is my inspiration. You can look
through the Evening Standard or Metro and you can find a really cool
picture like one of the Pope…

Dazed Digital: What and where are you studying?Lisette Norrby: I'm starting CSM a menswear degree this year.

DD: It must have taken quite a lot of effort putting this show together!Lisette Norrby: Yes, I guess it’s just the passion, just a passion for showing your things.

DD: How come you chose menswear?Lisette Norrby: To
me it’s more appealing, it’s more playful and I can think a bit more
outside the box. I don’t necessarily have to think about what suits my
body. I didn’t really think about doing menswear, I was just trying to
find a place for my vision, which accidentally just ended up being
menswear all the time. And I really like tailoring and doing things
properly, with really fine materials.

DD: How would you describe your style and what influences you?Lisette Norrby: Textiles
are very important to me, I like to work with pure materials like wool
and silk and pure cotton. Most of my inspirations are from shapes and
concepts, I love working within a concept and having a playful feeling
and playful shapes, almost childish, to the edge of being a bit too
ridiculous and kindergarten-ish!

DD:
It’s interesting you used the word playful, as it’s not one you hear
often attributed to menswear. Is that you wanted to achieve with all
the ruched and gathered detailing?Lisette Norrby: I
love fashion and I like creating things and I love looking at beautiful
things but for me, I feel that I’d rather have fun while I’m doing it
and really experiment and switch things around. For this show, I was
working with the negative space that I find in people interacting with
each other, so that’s my concept. I wanted to make the negative space
visible so if you look closely at my garments you can see shapes
reoccurring in different ways, falling out from the body. I didn’t want
to have any prints, I wanted the materials to be pure and clean and
simple and just play with the shapes like twisting the garment around
the body. On the limit of what’s feminine and playful and childish.

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Dazed Digital: Where and what do you study?Andrea Mongenie: I'm in my first at London College of Fashion

DD: Did you enjoy collaborating with all these other designers for this show?Andrea Mongenie: Well, we’re all best friends and in fashion it’s always hard to find people you really get on with. We just got on really well, everyone is really chilled out about fashion, it’s something we take seriously but not too seriously and have fun doing. We’re all doing these courses and everything is about marking so we wanted to do something about ourselves.

DD: How would you describe what you do?Andrea Mongenie: I love playing with shapes on the body, I’m more of a 3D designer. I always work on the stand and end up with shapes that I’ll then work on my pattern. Everyone works very differently, which is interesting. I’m really interested in body shapes, I did a lot of dancing when I was younger and I love changing shapes around the body and playing with lines on the body, just really simple lines.

DD: Could you describe a couple of the pieces you’re showing tonight?Andrea Mongenie: All of it is grey, white and black…

DD: Why that palette?Andrea Mongenie: Because I think colours are hard! I actually love colours but I think it’s really hard to get them right. The silhouette is a mix, some of them are quite fitted, with padded shoulders and there’s a more voluminous pleated dress in knitted jersey. I love textiles so I play around with lots of fabrics. That’s always my starting point, I never start from a pattern, I start from the fabric. For this collection actually I had lots of fun with jersey! And that’s the point, just having fun with jersey!